It was the summer of 2017, I just had recently moved to Washington from Virginia. If someone who is a teenager moves even 30 minutes from where they used to live, they know how hard it can be, and here I was a 17-year-old who moved to the completely different coast of the country. I didn’t know anyone when I first moved, and it was the summer, so I couldn’t even go to school to make new friends.

One day I was doing the same old thing just lying in my bed playing Ps4 and suddenly my mom barges in my room and starts yelling at me, “Why are you always on that Ps4, even though it’s your summer you’re not going to just sit there and play all day….”. So, I decided to go to the gym to play basketball and possibly make friends.

As soon as I step in the gym, I see a bunch of people who were dressed in basketball attire with their phones out recording and being loud. When I got to the basketball courts I couldn’t believe my eyes as I saw one of my favorites and one of the most inspiring players Nate Robinson and with him another current NBA superstar Jamal Crawford playing. Their footwork and their speed were magical. It felt like I was watching the game with courtside seats for free but in fast forward. Nate with both his arm tatted up and Jamal with his tall lanky self-looked exactly how they look on TV, but their game looked way better in real life.

Everybody was waiting for their chance to either play with or play against them both. Luckily, I had already been chosen by a team to play against them next. So, the big moment finally had arrived, as my hands and my forehead got sweaty, the feeling of nervousness started taking over my mind.  A lot of shit started going through my mind like what if I get dunked on by a 5’7” man even though he’s in the NBA it would get me roasted the whole school year, or what if Jamal hits me with his famous behind the back crossover and gives me a taste of the wood on the floor.

Before the game begun I made sure I introduced myself to the center of attention Nate and try to be on his good side, so he goes easy on me. With a smirk on his face “guard me” was the first words that came out of his mouth. “Bet” I said accepting his challenge but, on the inside, I was shitting bricks.

The game had begun and as Jamal brought the ball down the court freakily fast and before I could pay attention on playing defense, I heard a loud thud and my teammate was on the ground as he had got his ankles broken by the famous superstar. As Nate got the ball I called to play defense. All I saw was the ball thumping on the wood as he ran down the court like an Olympic sprinter.

I knew I wasn’t as good as the pro players, but I remained focused to not make it an easy win for them. As Nate came in for the layup I jumped up high to block his shot but him being a pro player he had some special moves under his sleeves. He faked me into jumping up high just to do a spin move and finish with an uber athletic windmill dunk. The competitiveness in his face was scary and amazing at the same time. “Come on now” he smirked.

 Nate creeped up on me as I dribbled the ball down the court. I ignored what happened last play and focused on my game. He was short and me being 6’4” I just wanted to take revenge by dunking the ball or even just by scoring the ball. I noticed he wasn’t guarding me tight and he had his legs spread wide, I just decided to throw the ball between his legs and I got him, and I ran to the hoop and dunked the ball. I couldn’t believe that I just had nutmegged Nate Robinson, the same dude who is so respected in the pros and the dude who won NBA slam dunk contest 3 times. Nate grinned, “Okay you better than I expected”, that coming from Nate made me happy and boosted up my confidence playing basketball forever.

My team full of high schoolers knew they weren’t a match against the other team full of people who were friends with pro basketball players. We were losing as bad as the Hulk lost to Thanos in Infinity Warfare. The game was basically over because they just had to hit a three and they won. After the game, Nate came up to me and he shook my hand and said, “Good game”.

I wasn’t going to give up the chance to ask a former NBA superstar for some tips to improve my game. None of my teammates expected Nate to be so humble and down to earth person because of how famous he is. As I was leaving after the loss and my teammates began to hype me up for that one play and that play stuck with me and my teammates I played with till now. Whenever I go to the same gym and play with them we always talk about that play and I try to do that same move on someone every time I play basketball.

I already used to think that I was good at basketball but that play from the game made me realize that if I just put more hard work in and with more dedication I can be a really good basketball player.